It's the final three episodes of the Justice League animated series...
- Just in time for the end of the show, we wrap up the John/Shayera storyline in "Ancient History". Hawkman/Carter Hall helps out John with Gentleman Ghost (Robin Atkin Downes) while Shadow Thief (James Remar) hides in the--uh--shadows. Meanwhile, Shayera is working out with Vixen in the League's gym. John warns her about Hawkman (he's essentially a stalker). Shadow Thief attacks John and Vixen in his apartment, and they get their butts kicked. The girls go see Hawkman in Midway City (he's an archeologist, as in the SA comics), and find John tied up by Shadow Thief--a battle ensues. Our heroes (minus Vixen) are tied up in front of the Absorbachron--a Thangarian super-computer with all knowledge. We get the backstory on the Hawks--aliens stranded on ancient Earth, creating an Egyptian empire, a love triangle with a general (clearly John in an earlier life), advisor Hath-Set kills the lovers in Katar's name, and Katar commits suicide (rather adult for a cartoon--very Shakespearean). Turns out Shadow Thief is just a manifestation of Hawkman's dark thoughts--he gives Carter the chance to kill John, but he releases them instead, then absorbs the villain into his mind. Back at HQ, John tells Shayera about the future (he learned they have a son when he was there), but says he's staying with Vixen anyway. Shayera goes to Bruce to find out more about this son...
- We're back with the Legion of Doom in "Alive". Lex continues to work to save Brainiac. Talia uses her magic on the Brainiac artifact, and they are psychically teleported to Brainiac's world just as it was blown up. Now Lex knows where to go--he gets the Legion to turn the HQ into a spaceship. We see the regular baddies plus Merlyn, Goldface, Count Vertigo, and several others--even I don't recognize some of them. There's a great shot of Bizarro trying to put a square object into a round hole. Tala decides enough is enough, and uses the ship's launch to free Grodd. There's a mutiny and a big fight amongst the villains. It al winds up in a duel between Grodd and Lex, and the latter uses the former's mental powers against him. It's out the airlock for the ol' gorilla. The reach the coordinates, and Tala is used to track down Brainiac's parts. Metron of the New Gods (Daniel Dae Kim) warns him, but Lex won't be stopped. He reforms--Darkseid (Michael Ironside)?? He blows up the ship (but somehow doesn't kill all the villlains?). We switch to Apolkolips, where a final battle is stopped by their ruler. The villains stop by the League's HQ and ask for help, which brings us to...
- ...the final episode, "Destroyer". We learn how the villains survived (Sinestro's ring plus an assist from Orion of the New Gods). Darkseid's army attacks Earth via Boom Tubes. The League and Legion begrudgingly team up. Everybody--and I mean everybody--checks in. We see battles in Washington, Paris, London, China, Rome, Toyko, and finally Metropolis. Clark, Bruce, and Lex go up against Darkseid. Lex jumps in, gets his butt kicked, and Bruce has to save him, leaving our two combatants fighting on top of the Daily Planet. The other heroes learn that huge drills are trying to create Apokolips on Earth, which have to be stopped. There's an old guy on the Great Wall kicking butt--it turns out to be Martian Manhunter, back for the finale. Clark and Darkseid trade blows--then Metron arrives. Lex gets Metron to tell him how to beat Darkseid, Clark tells Darkseid how he always has to take care--"the world is made of cardboard" to him. Now, he can really let loose--we get the greatest hits ever seen on the series (shock waves and everything) before Darkseid pulls out the "agony matrix" to stop Clark. Meanwhile, Metron has taken Lex to the Source Wall (essentially God/Heaven in the New Gods universe), who manages to survive it. He returns to the battle (in a business suit) with the "Anti-Life Equation" (what Darkseid has always searched for). Both Lex and Darkseid are wiped out by the resulting explosion. The League gives the Legion a 5 minute head start to escape, and we get a final curtain call from the whole League (I'm not afraid to admit I watched this last part more than once).
I hoped you enjoyed these reviews--it gave me a chance to finally watch the series in order. If you would like to play along, the DVD box set is available on Amazon.